The Rising Sea: NUMA Files #15

NUMA Files #15

by Clive Cussler, Graham Brown

Kurt and his crew are in a deadly race to stop the sea rising. A mission deep inside the swirling Pacific. Their objective? To save the world.

The blistering Kurt Austin adventure in the NUMA files series from UK No. 1 bestseller Clive Cussler.

A global threat
The world's sea levels are rising at an alarming rate, too quickly to be caused by glacier melt. A risk so big it sends Kurt Austin, Zoe Zavala and the NUMA team rocketing around the world in search for answers.

A desperate mission
Their hunt takes them from the shark-filled waters of Asia to the high-tech streets of Tokyo to a forbidden secret island, but it's in the East China Sea that a mysterious underwater mining operation is discovered.

A devastating endgame
Kurt uncovers a plot more dangerous than they could have imagined: a plan to upset the Pacific balance of power, threatening the lives of millions. It falls to the NUMA team to risk everything to stop it and save the world from the coming catastrophe.

Praise for Clive Cussler

'The Adventure King' Sunday Express

'Just about the best in the business' New York Post

'Cussler is hard to beat' Daily Mail

Genres: Fiction, Adventure, Thriller, Action, Mystery, Audiobook, Suspense

416 pages, Hardcover

First published March 13, 2018

About the author

Cussler began writing novels in 1965 and published his first work featuring his continuous series hero, Dirk Pitt, in 1973. His first non-fiction, The Sea Hunters, was released in 1996. The Board of Governors of the Maritime College, State University of New York, considered The Sea Hunters in lieu of a Ph.D. thesis and awarded Cussler a Doctor of Letters degree in May, 1997. It was the first time since the College was founded in 1874 that such a degree was bestowed.

Cussler was an internationally recognized authority on shipwrecks and the founder of the National Underwater and Marine Agency, (NUMA) a 501C3 non-profit organization (named after the fictional Federal agency in his novels) that dedicates itself to preserving American maritime and naval history. He and his crew of marine experts and NUMA volunteers discovered more than 60 historically significant underwater wreck sites including the first submarine to sink a ship in battle, the Confederacy's Hunley, and its victim, the Union's Housatonic; the U-20, the U-boat that sank the Lusitania; the Cumberland, which was sunk by the famous ironclad, Merrimack; the renowned Confederate raider Florida; the Navy airship, Akron, the Republic of Texas Navy warship, Zavala, found under a parking lot in Galveston, and the Carpathia, which sank almost six years to-the-day after plucking Titanic's survivors from the sea.

In addition to being the Chairman of NUMA, Cussler was also a fellow in both the Explorers Club of New York and the Royal Geographic Society in London. He was honored with the Lowell Thomas Award for outstanding underwater exploration.

Cussler's books have been published in more than 40 languages in more than 100 countries. His past international bestsellers include Pacific Vortex, Mediterranean Caper, Iceberg, Raise the Titanic, Vixen 03, Night Probe, Deep Six, Cyclops, Treasure, Dragon, Sahara, Inca Gold, Shock Wave, Flood Tide, Atlantis Found, Valhalla Rising, Trojan Odyssey and Black Wind (this last with his son, Dirk Cussler); the nonfiction books The Sea Hunters, The Sea Hunters II and Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt Revealed; the NUMA® Files novels Serpent, Blue Gold, Fire Ice, White Death and Lost City (written with Paul Kemprecos); and the Oregon Files novels Sacred Stone and Golden Buddha (written with Craig Dirgo) and Dark Watch (written with Jack Du Brul).

Clive Cussler died at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona on February 24, 2020.

Reviews

[Christian Orr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like every Clive Cussler (R.I.P.) novel in general and NUMA Files novel in particular I've read, fun and entertaining. However, some glaring flaws too:
(1) The ending seems rushed and feels a tad incomplete, especially regarding the ultimate fates of the key villains.
(2() It seems a tad hard to believe that the Asian characters--Chinese and Japanese alike--use the English measurement system instead of the metric system, and that every single one of then speaks absolutely perfect English--SAT words and slang phrases alike--with not only the Western characters but even amongst each other.

That said, Akiko is a very likeable supporting character; she reminds me a bit of the Aki character (portrayed by Akiko Watanabe) in my favourite 007 film "You Only Live Twice."

I could totally picture either Steven Bauer or Dave Batista playing Joe Zavala in a filmic adaptation.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading umpteen Clive Cussler novels, I've run out of laudatory resources to describe them. Suffice it to say: His works are definitely worth checking out, unless you're not a fan of action stories.

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The sea levels are rising, and nobody knows why. The usual bureaucrats are bungling. Kurt Austin and Co. start investigating, only to come up against a legendary yakuza assassin, and the Chi-coms.

Lots of globe trotting and action. The Numa Files isn't my favorite Clive Cussler series, but this book is one of the better ones, I think.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clive Cussler and his writing team have found the perfect recipe for a successful book. Take a world wide disaster of some sort...add an evil villain who is generally richer than God and looking for something or someone to dominate...sweeten with a beautiful woman to help along the way...and stir in a generous helping of heroes and you have all the ingredients to save the world. [The Rising Sea] is no exception. It is believable and has the usual bits of history and current day events blended to produce another great read.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun book to read; I enjoyed it quite a bit. It was (clearly) a fast read for me; it held my interest and had decent character development of the extended cast of characters. It also has plenty of humor and banter between the characters (I think I love the banter between Gamay and Paul Trout the most, I think, although Kurt's and Joe's back-and-forth's can also be fun). Akiko was a great "supporting character" and I enjoyed her development fully over the course of the story.

It was interesting to have an anti-tech group involved in this story (even though their leader and a good portion of the group is killed shortly after Kurt and Joe arrive at their castle). I also liked that their leader discovered Z-waves that nobody else was able to detect and eventually discovered that the "epicenter" of these earthquakes was in the South China Sea just off Shanghai; it is the location of a top-secret underwater Chinese mining operation that encounters a severe setback due to an underwater avalanche destroying a good portion of their underwater facility. I liked how it was explained this Japanese anti-tech geologist/scientist was able to detect these waves and that he was also able to set up a second site to allow the epicenter for the source of these waves to be detected. That was pretty cool.

It was also amusing that most earthquake detection centers automatically filtered out the Z-waves because they resonance levels were too close to earth-moving equipment and underground mining operations. Little did the modern world know that they could have detected the approaching disaster so much sooner had the "filters" on their computer-based detection systems not filtered out the noise that the computers assumed to be something other than what they actually were!

It was interesting to "rediscover" ringwoodite. I have heard of (read about) this substance before and vaguely remember that it held trapped water in the boundary where it could be found deep beneath the crust. It was also interesting to learn that the amount of fresh water trapped deep beneath the earth could range between the same amount as up to three times the amount of water that is found on the earth's surface (including the oceans).

What is most interesting to me is it reminds me of the story of the Flood in the Book of Genesis (actually the story of Creation as well). In Genesis 1 it talks about how the waters on Earth are divided between some kind of firmament so that you have "waters above" and "waters below" this firmament (possibly the crust of the earth?). And then when the Flood occurs, the ground is broken apart so that the water found in the fountains of the deep are able to gush forth and spread across the globe, flooding the land. In Cussler's book it is said that if the amount of fresh water being expelled into the oceans continued unabated for another year, then the mountains on the planet will be around 2,000 feet underwater. So there would be plenty of water to have spring forth to have covered the Earth for the forty-plus days and nights as described in the Book of Genesis. It was the description of the underwater field of geysers releasing fresh water and other mining products into the South China Sea that really brought to mind Genesis chapter 8 to me as it described (revealed) how the fresh water was being released into the ocean and causing drastic changes to not just the local aquatic environment but was beginning to impact other regions of the Pacific Ocean. Something interesting to think about if one is so inclined.

The robots in this book were crazy! In some ways, it reminds me of a cross between Dragon and Shock Wave. Dragon because of the robots involved. Dragon also had robots involved and an AI-controlled base that is mostly underwater; the main different being that Dragon occurs off the coast of Japan and the robots in that story were not nearly as sophisticated as the ones in this story. But there felt like a lot of parallels between the two stories. However, the other thing that really reminded me of Dragon was Kurt Austin's fighting the Japanese assassin using a samurai sword. In Dragon, Dirk Pitt fakes is death at the "hands" of one of the robots hunting him and shows up at the villain's "residence" wielding a samurai sword. He fights the villain and wins, mercilessly killing the villain with no remorse at all. I think Dirk was said to have taken some fencing lessons, but I still do not know how those lessons would have helped him in a fight using a samurai sword against a Japanese "sword master". In any case, it kind a felt like the same thing with Ushi-Oni - Ushi-Oni had the experience of using Japanese bladed weapons that Kurt did not and yet Kurt still defeated him (albeit barely). Granted, Kurt did catch the Japanese assassin off-guard and managed to wound him somewhat severely. But it still felt like a similar situation. Granted, I am glad that both Kurt and Dirk won their respective fights (otherwise they would have been killed and their adventures ended with their deaths, lol).

It also reminded me of Shock Wave because of the use of resonance in conjunction with mining. In Shock Wave, resonance generators were used to soften up the rock and earth in which purple diamonds were found, allowing them to be mined more easily and with greater speed and efficiency. The problem was that when these devices were used at four different mines around the world, the convergence of their waves would kill all life forms in a the region in which they intersected. That does not happen in this book. The Chinese robots used resonance to break apart the rock and soil and whatnot of the Earth as they sought out the Golden Adamant material under not only the Pacific Ocean but deep into the Earth's crust. But, yeah, it was interesting to me how much some of the events in this book reminded me of two earlier books that chronicled Dirk Pitt's adventures.

It was crazy how the final order given to the Chinese robots caused so much problems and nearly destroyed life on the planet. The order given was "Proceed as scheduled. Overriding objective: maximize ore recovery and speed. Continue operations until ore recovery falls below one ounce per ton unless otherwise directed." The change of command in the station occurs as the shift change occurs, but the change is not entered into the computer right away, and this failure to note the change of command electronically nearly dooms the Earth to extinction. It was pretty crazy what this command also resulted in. In order to fulfill this command, the robots essentially created a type of "robot civilization" that operated deep beneath the Earth's crust (240+ miles beneath the crust) as they expanded their mining operations to try and find this rare and miraculous ore that the Chinese had discovered. They built over 340 new robots to help them fulfill the final order given to them, and who knows how much more damage or to what extent they would have mined through the crust before they were finally stopped. At the same time, considering they did not stop mining for nearly another year after the underwater disaster killed the human operation, they must have been finding more than the minimum "one ounce per ton" directive given; had the amounts mined fallen beneath this minimum level, then they would have ceased their mining operations. Pretty crazy stuff!

I liked that the Chinese General Zhang shows up in this book as well. I have not read the book yet that is referenced as a prior mission that General Zhang and Rudi Gunn became familiar with each other during, but I did recognize the name of the aircraft involved in that mission, so it is cool how these stories do interlink with each other at times. I like it when authors interconnect stories and characters in the worlds that they create; I think it helps add greater depth and breadth to the overall "world building" in which they are engaged.

It is funny - I thought Kurt and Akiko might "end up together" at the end of the book, but it turns out that Joe and Akiko "end up together" instead. That was an amusing turn of events to me as I did not expect it.

I also liked how Paul and Gamay Trout give themselves up to the Chinese version of "state security" in order to try and obtain an audience with General Chang to show him how the failed top secret Chinese mining operation was going to cause a new biblical disaster of proportions the modern world could not fathom if things did not change and change quickly. I did not expect that to happen, either (although I knew they would survive because they are part of the group of the four main characters in these stories and are never truly in any kind of danger or at risk of losing their lives). I thought it was clever misdirection on the part of the author(s) as I expected the direction to be one in which the couple manage to outsmart the Chinese and escape from Shanghai. They managed to outsmart me by doing what I never would have expected or anticipating happening by having the two of them turn themselves in like they did. That was a pleasant surprise for me.

I found myself wondering if the nanotechnology discovered and captured by the United States in Atlantis Found could have been used to create the Golden Adamant, thus alleviating the need for violent "searches and seizures" from happening. My brain is a little fuzzy at the moment, so I feel I am not stating this clearly, but I think the use of the nanotechnology from this novel would go a long way to alleviating some of the fights that have occurred since then when it comes to precious and rare metals (especially as the U.S. has exclusive control over this technology after the events in Atlantis Found). Another time when a discovery or technology from one book is not used in future books to really make long-term changes and whatnot. Ah, well!

I enjoyed this book. It was a lot of fun to read, and it was truly a fast read. I had a hard time putting it down, and I am glad I took a chance to continue reading books from this alternate series that Clive started to tell stories about other NUMA adventures because Dirk and Al were probably too old or somewhere else in the world for when these adventures would have been taking place.

[Gerald Kubicki]

ussler manages to make interesting a well used theme. As always there is a diabolical plot.

[Shaunda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read, but all his books are interesting. It makes me think, could this truly happen, and the answer is a resounding YES!

Given the right circumstances any thing is possible, right??

I liked the history lesson on the samurai swords & the legend behind the men who made them.

The AI that the Japanese designed, reminded me of " I, Robot ", which makes me wonder is this the way technology is heading. Robots that look & act human.

Wow, this just blows my mind, but I can see it happening.

Another thing, is our ocean sea levels rising, and if so what is being done to stop it, & is it humans that's doing the manipulating.

So much to think about, which is why I love me some Clive Cussler. He makes you go, hmmmmmm!

Anyway, these are my thoughts on his latest novel, The Rising Sea.

Reading is my life, so I'm off to another adventure & as always.

You already know, Happy Reading!!!!

Ciao 💋

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoy Clive Cussler's format. Historical intro then moves to present day and great adventure along the way. But in the last three books I've read (one was Oregon Files series) are all situated in this same region; the Pacific area. Can we move the story to somewhere else please.

[Martin Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, typical Clive Cussler novel, liked it a lot.

[Kathy Davie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fifteenth in the NUMA Files action thriller series and revolving around Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala, a pair of troubleshooting good guys.

My Take
It’s a political greed to be top dog that threatens the world with a futuristic technology. On the flip side, there’s a fascinating reveal on a small group who are anti-e-tech, which comes at an interesting point in our own time, what with identities being stolen from Facebook and others. Then I took a leaf from Kurt’s observations…and yeah, I do carry quite a bit of “junk”. Hmmm…

I certainly felt a shiver rush over me when I read of the electronic shutdown in Shanghai! Eek. And, lol, there’s plenty of James Bond-type moments, such as Paul and Gamay’s efforts to get the data out to America! Whew. Got to thinking Mission Impossible as well with Kurt, Joe, and Nagano's flight off the island. Oy...these boys know how to live it "up", lol.

On the technical side, The Rising Seas uses a multiple third person point-of-view, as Cussler/Graham are providing perspectives from a range of characters on both sides of the conflict.

A metaphor at the start compares America with the game of Go, as an interesting lesson for Han. That's followed up with the twist at the end that raises up shades of a Terminator-style world! Sure hope they cut those batteries!

As usual, Cussler/Brown combine plenty of action with several storylines, all of which blend together along the way with an enemy who attempts to use Kurt and Joe as their very own red herrings. You’ll definitely want to be flippin’ them pages!

The Story
A battle between politicians and scientists is cut short with Kurt Austin’s dramatic entrance. With more stunned silence when Austin proclaims the truth of the global melting, the waters rising, the flooding threatening the coastline.

It’s a truth that sends Kurt Austin, Joe Zavala, and the rest of the NUMA scientific team rocketing around the globe in search of answers. What they find at the bottom of the East China Sea, however, is even worse than they imagined — and part of a diabolical plan to upset the Pacific balance of power — and unexpectedly displace as many as a billion people.

A rare alloy, a pair of five-hundred-year-old Japanese national treasures, an assassin so violent even the Yakuza has disowned him, an audacious technological breakthrough that will become a very personal nightmare for Kurt Austin — action that ranges from the shark-filled waters of Asia to the high-tech streets of Tokyo to a forbidden secret island — the NUMA team must risk everything to head off the coming catastrophe.

The Characters
Today
Kurt Austin, Head of Special Projects, and Joe Zavala, an engineering genius, are partners who work for NUMA.

NUMA is…
…short for the National Underwater and Marine Agency, whom many on Capitol Hill consider a cowboy organization. NUMA monitors the world’s oceans and America’s lakes, rivers, and waterways as well as historical work. Paul Trout is a geologist specializing in deep-sea studies and married to Gamay Trout who is a marine biologist. Rudi Gunn is the assistant director; Dirk Pitt is the director. Hiram Yaeger is the resident computer genius who designed Max, a unique computer with a sense of humor. Robert Henley is a marine geologist under Paul. The brilliant Priya Kashmir is restricted to a wheelchair, but that is her only restriction.

Vice-President Sandecker used to be director of NUMA.

Greenland is…
…but one frigid land that Kurt visits. Vala is a Norwegian geologist who helps out on the Navik Ice Sheet.

China

The Serpent’s Jaw is…
…a canyon in the East China Sea off Shanghai where an underwater mining operation is located. Dr. Chen and Commander Hon Yi of the People’s Liberation Navy are the only human operators. Golden Adamant (GA) is a new, very rare alloy. Wen Li is small and very old, but only physically. Politically, he’s Lao-shi, an old person of high skills, a major powerhouse in China.

Walter Han is über wealthy and a powerful man in China and Japan. Industrial Technology, Inc. (ITI) is the business his father built. Gao-zhin is their best engineer and slides into Han’s new company, China-Nippon Robotics. Ny-Nex is a female automaton you’d never know was a robot.

Shanghai
Melanie Anderson is the reporter for INN, Indie Network News, that thrives on conspiracy theories. Charley is her cameraman. General Zhang ( Nighthawk , 14) is based at the Ministry for State Security.

Japan is…
…a target, a US ally. Superintendent Nagano is in charge of the Yamana Police Station. Honshu is an island abandoned some years ago.

Kenzo Fujihara is a Japanese geologist who eschews electronic technology. Akiko is one of Master Kenzo’s students and considers herself his bodyguard. And does she ever have the fascinating past! Ogata is on another station. Ichiro is one of Kenzo’s earliest followers.

Ushi-Oni, a.k.a., Oni, loves to kill and defected from the Yakuza, a ronin, and a cousin twice-removed from Walter Han. Hidekai Kashimora is a Yakuza underboss who runs Sento, a gaming, drug, and prostitution establishment that includes a combat arena.

1945, Japan
Sergeant Coldy Bimore received a precious shipment. Iemasa Tokagawa was the latest in his family to protect priceless katanas, including the Honjo Masamune.

Winter 1573, Central Japan
Yoshiro Shimezu is a samurai angry with his overlord. He wields the katana Honjo Masamune. Kasimoto is the brutally tyrannical Shogun who wields the katana Crimson Blade.

Masamune was Japan’s greatest swordsmith and he created the Honjo Masamune. Muramasa was Masume's envious protégé who created the bloodthirsty Crimson Blade. Both blades became national treasures, and then they disappeared.

Ringwoodite is a stone that traps water.

The Cover and Title
The cover is a complement of dark blues versus an orangey yellow in a dark roiling sea with its waves rolling up on the golden beach, a leather-wrapped katana sunk into the sand. The primary author’s name is at the top in an embossed white outlined in a metallic light blue — the title is in the reverse colors, embossed, and at the bottom of the cover. The secondary author’s name is very small in a gray to the bottom right of Cussler’s name. There’s more gray in both bits of series information while the info blurb is at the top in white.

The title is the fear, a future of The Rising Seas drowning the world.

[Lori Rubin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical Cussler adventure yarn that takes you to foreign countries and an undersea venue. A quick beach read with, alas, a very unsatisfactory ending.

[Rbucci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great listening entertainment in the car

[Mike · Rating 1 out of 5]

Clive Cussler was an amazing author who infused his love of the ocean, fast-paced action, and masterful storytelling to create some of my favorite work of fiction. I with fondness can still recall the plot, action, scenes, and witty lines of Dirk and Al in their adventures even 20 years after reading one of their stories...

Graham Brown is no Clive Cussler.

This story fell flat and continues to reinforce my belief that Clive Cussler was not reviewing much if any of these before printing. Having lived in Japan (Shizuoka Prefecture) for 3 years, much of the story's stage created a sense of cringe and nausea. Nothing felt genuine, believable, or even practical with respect to many of the Japanese characters or the nation.

The plot itself felt disconnected from anything traditionally bound by NUMA, with it's eventual resolution too simple and casually commented on at the end to drive any sense of thought or learning. That these are NUMA agents may be the most unbelievable plot point...

I often wondered if Mr. Brown understood who the main character is in the story. Like with Dirk/Al, Kurt is the main character and Joe his faithful sidekick - yet at points I felt that this was confused or convoluted. I genuinely enjoy the Al focused chapters in CCs books, and am curious to see more the sidekick's view...but it should never eclipse our main hero.

*Spoilers below*
Every scene in Japan felt as though it was intended to be written for an American or Euorpean setting. The casual use of English between side characters who had no reason to know let alone use English, Americanesque responses to questions or actions, even how the Author had Akiko flirt in the club. In fact, the character of Akiko may have been one of the most egregious failures of this author with respect to all things Japan - her character alone almost had me stop reading, such drivel and not realistic to Japanese cultural norms.

As far as language examples, when we are on Hashima Island, the patrolling soldiers were speaking English to one another...why? Oh, so that Kurt or Joe's witty "boss wants you here" line can be used and the plot could continue... bleh. The author himself seemed to realize (or an Editor tried to correct) some of this, when in the final pages of the book characters began to miraculously leverage their native languages of Mandarin/Japanese in speaking and reading again.

One aspect that should have bothered others throughout the story was the lack of any connection the Sea. With an organizational name like NUMA, and the history of both Kurt/Joe and their greater predecessors Dirk/Al, why did it take until the final chapters (93% into the book) before our main characters even ended up in the water? Even then, it's only to swim from a boat to the shore so that the story can continue.

The plot driver (massive oceans under the curst) is something I actually had heard of prior to reading this, and so immediately thought that the likely culprit of the rising oceans when tied together to a mining expedition that didn't shut down... so there wasn't a great deal of suspense for me in the reveal.

I rather expected that the Golden Adamant found extracted be used to seal the damage done by the Chinese off-shore mining, a fitting symbolism of a metal being extracted for the purposes of war to be used to save the world/environment. Instead, we are treated to a throwaway sentence at the conclusion of the book about "western nations gaining the alloy in a dormant volcanic region of Japan."

There was one interesting plot point that should have been used as a flashback - it could have been an incredible driver of the story. In the first 1/3 of the book there is a scene where Walter Han and Oni are discussing the backstory of Japanese swords at the end of WW II, and the American sergeant who may have absconded with the sword. I actually thought this would have been a great chapter 2 flashback, something that could have connected to Kurt's efforts and maybe led to his discovering the Sgt was real and had hidden with the sword in one of Mt Fuji's 5 lakes to protect it for the Japanese people. Kurt could have dived the lake, found the soldiers grim skeleton clutching the sword, an American protecting this Japanese historic relic for future generations and a showcase of the respect an average American had for Japan even right after the war. Great potential in that story, and something that could have really driven the plot, action, and created a sense of pay off at the end.

But we had Graham Brown as the author...

[Keith Hendrickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast pace!

Lots of action, fast pace and fun read! Look out James Bond, Kurt Austin and the NUMA team saves the day!

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book kept me somewhat intrigued to find out exactly what was causing the "Rising Sea," but other than that, the book was flat. The characters were difficult to distinguish from one another. The women were vapid, and all of the male characters loved beautiful women and cars. No one was interesting. That being said, this is a fast-paced thriller, so the plot is itself the main character.
I gained more respect for this novel when I learned that the author himself lived a life not unlike the characters in the book, which is very cool. And the author is primarily a scientist/adventurer, and secondarily an author, which makes me forgive him for the literary pitfalls.

[Tom Tischler · Rating 4 out of 5]

An alarming rise in the worlds sea levels sends Kurt Austin and the rest of
the NUMA team around the globe in search of answers. What they find at the
bottom of the East China Sea however is even more than they imagined. A diaboliical
plan to upset the Pacific balance of power and in the process displace as many as a
billion people from their homes. This is book 15 in the NUMA files. Not a bad story
and I gave it a 4.

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining.

[Paul Pessolano · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a good mystery, not a good historical novel, but an excellent adventure story.. if you like people that get themselves into impossible situations and are able to get out of them by impossible means, these books are meant for you. These are just excellent reads that take no thought process and little, if any, scrutiny. The Kurt Austin series is propelled by NUMA ( National Underwater Marine Agency). This is a non-political agency that has strong ties to the U.S. Government. In this case they are called upon to find out why the Oceans are rising at an alarming rate. This takes them on a journey to Japan and China. Again, this an adventure novel that is fun to read but with little substance.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Cussler formula of NUMA confronting and ending a megalomaniac villain’s plans while uncovering some secret, relic or mystery continues here…A Chinese leader and Chinese Billionaire’s plan for Chinese technological domination threatens the World through rising seas and the unearthing of a priceless Samurai sword are the key elements here for NUMA to confront…Good stuff!

[David Snape · Rating 3 out of 5]

An adventure story that covers Japan and Shanghai. What does rising sea levels and an ancient sword have to do with this story? A corrupt government and former Yakuza hitmen as well. This is a very solid story of how NUMA forces from Washington DC tackle this adventure.

[Dimitri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sitting somewhere between "Sahara" and "Blue gold" in terms of nautical armageddon and heavily modeled on "Dragon" with its Sino-Japanese setting.

The nautical armageddon stays too far in the background and the setting lacks cultural flavour, so both sit uneasily on top of.. Not enough Akiko!

[Sheila Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

As usual with Clive Cussler, this is a fast paced, rollicking novel of derring-do. This time with evil Japanese yakuza and greedy Chinese officials on one side and goody-two-shoes shogun/samurai monks and priests on the other! Not to mention the dodgy submarine oceanographic geomorphology that spins the whole story.

[Brandon Ulman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good fun as usual but not a stand-out Cussler.

[Carole · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the end of this novel we learn how much of this story is based on fact...far more than I ever imagined. It is a fascinating novel worth reading. I enjoyed it from beginning to end.

[Meta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book.

[Joop · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,6 sterren. Zoals altijd in deze serie is NUMA het winnende team. Goed uitgewerkt thema.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another action packed story with Kurt Austin. This time, facing global flooding and sharpe dealings on the other side of the world. A ripping yarn and is another easy read.

[Sami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robotteja!

[Denis]

Clive Cusller's Numa books have always been some of my favorites. Very easy to get lost in them .

[Jorgen Lundgren · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best Clive Cussler books I read. Very relevant topic.